Planning staff recommends denial of grandfather-rights claim for 204 Antoinette Ave. property

Fairbanks North Star Borough planning staff on April 17 recommended denying a request by William Riley for affirmative recognition of legal nonconforming ("grandfather") status for a building at 204 Antoinette Avenue Unit 4, saying available records do not show the structure predated the borough's Aug. 13, 1970 setback requirements.

The recommendation matters because a denial would require the owner to comply with current 20-foot front-yard setback standards in the borough’s multifamily zone or seek a variance; the determination also affects a related pending lot-size grandfathering appeal and a pending real-estate closing the applicants said they are trying to complete.

Sarah Bingham, the planning staff contact on the case, told the administrative hearing that staff’s review found no definitive building permit or clear pre-1970 photographic evidence showing the subject northeast building existed before Aug. 13, 1970. "It is our recommendation to deny the grandfather rights for this structure's 4 foot north front yard and 13 foot east front yard setback since we don't have any earlier evidence that's supporting that this building was constructed before August of thirteenth, 1970," Bingham said. Bingham identified the 1971 aerial image as the single most persuasive item in…